Jill Rogers Barham - Junior League of Little Rock

LETTER FROM
THE PRESIDENT
Dear Junior League of Little Rock Members,
As I sit down to write this letter, we have
had a small break from the usual August
heat, and I find my mind turning to fall,
back to school, football games and the beginning
of a new League year. For me, fall always
heralds a fresh start. There are new friends to
be made, fresh school supplies, the football team
is undefeated, and the promise of the holiday
season begins to unfold.
There are many new opportunities on the horizon
this year with the Junior League of Little Rock.
In keeping with our belief that the League is the
premiere training ground for female volunteers
and leadership in Little Rock, the 09-10 Board
has chosen “Learn it in the League” as our theme
for this year.
As an organization, we provide our members
with many different volunteer opportunities.
The word “learn” has many different synonyms
and many of them are experiences offered
by the League. In this upcoming year, our
members will “acquire” the knowledge needed
to work as a team and get the job done. Our
provisional members will “find out” what it
takes to be an active member of the League.
The 6 th K Café, Holiday House, Cookbook and
Bargain Boutique committees will “ascertain”
how to successfully raise funds to support our
community projects. GROW, Nightingales,
Night Owls, FACT, KOTA, Be Wise, Immunize,
Buckle Up and Stuff the Bus committees will
“determine” what it means to work together to
help others. All the while, our Administrative
Support, Mid-Month Mailout, Headquarters,
Arrangements, Admissions Provisionals and
Training, Placement, Technology, Training
and Interaction committees will “see” what it
means to be the eyes, ears and support for our
organization.
This year, in addition to the opportunities we
normally have as a League, we are delighted that
Little Rock will be the site of the Association
of Junior Leagues International, Inc. (AJLI)
Organizational and Development Institute (ODI)
on February 12-14, 2010. This mission based
training offered by AJLI will bring women from
Leagues all over the country to Little Rock for
this conference. What a wonderful opportunity
for us to showcase not only our League, but also
our fabulous city of Little Rock!
It is an honor and a privilege for me to serve as
President this year. However, I felt confident in
taking on that role because of the remarkable
group of women in positions throughout our
League. We all work together toward fulfilling
our mission of promoting voluntarism and
improving the lives of women and children in
our community. While the League provides the
training, environment and opportunities for all of
our members to develop their leadership skills,
ODI will provide an additional opportunity
for training. We are always in need of quality
members and leaders who are passionate for
the League, our mission and all that we do. I
strongly encourage each of you to take advantage
not only of the training opportunities offered by
the League this year, but also to talk to your
Placement Advisor about attending ODI. This is
a fantastic leadership training opportunity being
offered in our own city, and is a great chance to
expand and improve our own skills.
As you can see, we have many exciting things
on our syllabus to accomplish together and many
ways to “Learn it in the League.” The Junior
League of Little Rock recognizes that we can
all become better volunteers and leaders, just
through our willingness to be teachable. By
improving our own skills, we can improve
people’s lives.
Fondly,
Courtney McLarty
8 Interaction l Holiday 2009